Rio took notice of the sword that was now slung on Michonne's shoulder. He watched as she made an attempt to clean the church, carrying the bodies out at least. Maggie and Glenn helped her. They'd tried to get Rio to go to sleep but he insisted on staying up.
He watched them for a while before heading over to the second office. Rio was about to go back inside the one they'd hidden in but he didn't feel like staying with Sasha, Tyreese and Bob. Rio couldn't understand how he did it, staying alive while knowing he was dying. Rio hoped that when he died it was quick, he wouldn't have to think about it.
The next morning came around too quickly and it was only when Abraham began packing that Rio realized he had to leave. After a small breakfast, they'd all crammed into the small room that Bob lay in. Maggie was at the man's bedside now, whispering goodbyes. He didn't have long.
The woman leant down to plant a kiss upon Bob's hand. That was it. They were leaving him. Rick stayed behind as they all followed one another out the room.
Sasha ended up beside him.
"Are you okay?" Rio asked her, not sure whether speaking up was the right choice as soon as the words left his mouth.
"Yeah, yeah I'm okay." The woman replied, looking slightly taken aback and her voice wavering. Maggie walked over, steering Sasha away from the room until Rick came back out.
Rio pulled out the paper that had been shoved in his pocket and placed it into the bin.. He then walked over to Gabriel, who was sitting at the end of one of the pews. "Do you have any paper?" He asked
"Pardon?"
"Uh, paper. A notepad." Rio said, mimicking writing. "Do you have one I can borrow please?"
"It isn't borrowing if you don't give it back." Gabriel joked. He walked over to his drawer and pulled one out anyway. A small a5 one.
Gabriel grabbed a pen from his drawer and scribble something neatly on the first line.
'You can keep it'
The boy signed thank you to him with a small smile before walking away. He flipped through the pages, finding that it was empty before stuffing the notepad in the pocket of his jacket.
Rio walked outside, sitting at the back of the church, occasionally catching sight of Abraham as he walked back and forth the van. The man was gathering food and supplies and every now and then he'd give the boy a short nod.
After getting bored, Rio pulled out the paper, flipping the cover and grabbing the pen too. He held it in his right hand, and tried to keep inside the lines. He wrote his name or what was supposed to be his name. It was bad but it was unreadable.
The boy made sure Maggie wasn't around before slipping his arm out of his sling and trying to move it. She kept telling him not to. He flexed his fingers and then tried to bend his hand down.
"What are you doing?" A voice came from behind him. Rio jumped, bending his wrist more than he would've wanted to anyway. He swore to himself before putting the sling back on.
"That bad, huh?" Abraham asked.
"Yeah. Guess I've been downplaying it."
"That's for sure." The man said, sitting down on the steps next to him. "What'd you do?"
"I was running away and I tripped."
"A kid like you broke your arm from a little trip?"
Rio didn't question what he meant by a kid like him. He could probably guess. "Well, some guy pushed me and he was like... three times my size."
Abraham let out a sigh. "What a douchebag."
"Yeah. Douchebag."
"Mind I borrow your pen?"
Rio held it out. "Only if you give it back."
"What do you need it for anyway?" The man said as he took it, pulling a map out of his pocket.
"I'm deaf. Sort of."
"Sort of?" The man questioned.
"I'd say I'm like... sixty... maybe even seventy percent deaf." Rio guessed. He wouldn't usually describe it in percentages but it got his point across well enough without having to get technical.
"Damn kid, you're downplaying that too." Rio laughed at his somewhat impressed tone.
"You only haven't noticed because I can't sign. Glenn was writing me notes all last night."
Abraham hummed in acknowledgment. Rio just looked over to him, still unsure on how he felt about the man. He seemed okay when he wasn't angry, but didn't everybody?
"How old are you?"
"Is this an interrogation?" Rio asked.
"Well out of all the people coming to dc, we know you the least."
"Then why'd you pick me?"
"I asked first." Abraham insisted.
"I'm fourteen."
"I picked you because you seemed close to Glenn and Maggie. And that other man but he's gone." He looked to Rio before taking back what he said. "For now."
"That's it?" Rio replied, almost offended.
"Not entirely."
"What're the other reasons, then?" The boy asked as Abraham handed him back the pen. He got up and began walking away. Rio stood up, calling after him. "What's the other reason?"
The man just ignored him.
"What's that about?" Carl asked, peeking from behind the bus.
"I've decided that I want you to fight Abraham now."
"That'd do more damage to me than to him and you don't want that do you?"
"Guess not. I'll give you my knife."
"You're just being mean."
"He won't tell me why he picked me but he told me he had a reason."
"And now you wanna know?"
"Yes. Wouldn't you?"
"I guess." Carl replied with a shrug. He sat down on the steps next to Rio, grabbing his hand.
"I can't wait to get out of this church." Rio smiled, looking at the other boy.
"Neither can I but guess who has to wait longer."
"What're you gonna do when everything gets back to normal?"
"Move back home." He wanted to take back the words as soon as he said them. Jesse was dead. He didn't have a home anymore. He didn't care for the house that he'd lived in, there were more bad memories than good. Maybe he could grab a photo though. He'd like one.
"My home is in Georgia. Yours is in Virgina." Carl sighed as Rio dropped his head onto the boy's shoulder.
"Well fine, I'll move to Georgia then." Rio smiled up at him. "I'll go live with Daryl but we'll live next door so I can see you whenever I want. Then I'll make everyone live next to each other. Glenn, Maggie, Carol, Michonne. Everyone."
"That sounds nice."
"It will be." Rio answered, lifting his head and looking at the boy properly. They were practically nose to nose. He just gazed at him and noticed the light freckles dotted across the boy's nose and cheeks. They were lighter and there were certainly less on Carl's face than on his own but Rio liked that it was something they had in common.
Carl leaned in at first but then Rio grabbed his face with his hand pulling him in the last few centimeters. The boy was starting to understand why Glenn and Maggie kissed so much. Each time seemed to get better than the last. They pulled away only for a second before Rio leant over again, his arm slung around Carl's neck.
It was only as they were kissing that it truly dawned on Rio. He was leaving him and he didn't know for how long.
Carl pulled back after a while, a sad smile on his face.
"What is it?" Rio asked.
"I'm gonna miss you."
"I was just thinking that." The boy replied with a small laugh.
"Do you really think Eugene's cure is gonna work?"
"You want me to be honest?" Rio asked. Carl nodded. "Then No. I don't think people would be able to make a cure in someplace that's had a bunch of riots and bombings."
"How do you know people bombed dc?"
"Have I never told you about David and Leona?"
"No." Carl said as he shook his head.
"They're the reason I have that badass scar."
Carl brought his hand to Rio's face, brushing his hair out of the way to run his finger over the scar. It was thin but it was there, cutting through the boy's eyebrow and ending at the middle of his forehead. Rio leaned forward and just kissed him again.
"Are you gonna tell me?"
"When you get to DC."
"Loser." The boy huffed, turning away.
"Hey, Abraham said you were here." Glenn said, making his presence known as he walked over.
"Is it time to go now?" Rio asked.
"Yeah."
"Oh. Okay." He frowned, getting up. "Well, I'll see you later." The boy said to Carl, who just stood up in his spot. He waved and Rio waved back before following Glenn to the bus.
"This is our route to Dc." Abraham said, handing Rick the map he'd drawn over. "Well stick to it as long as we're able. If not, well, you've got our destination. Once Eugene gets to the big brains left up there things are gonna bounce back. This group should be there for it. You should be there for it."
"They will be. We will."
"We will." Rick repeated.
Carl had now made his way over, taking Judith from his fathers arms. Rio smiled at him before heading over to the bus, earning a small pat on the shoulder from Michonne as he walked past her.
"Let's go." Abraham beckoned them over. No one seemed to be happy about leaving. Rio wasn't either. It hadn't felt real until now. He was leaving. He was leaving and Daryl wasn't back yet. He didn't know what had happened or if he was still even alive and he was leaving. He was a pretty shitty kid to abandon his dad. He'd grown to like calling Daryl his dad, even if it was just in his head.
He looked out of the window as they drove away. Rio let out a long sigh, crossing his arm as he sat between Maggie and Glenn.
Maggie placed a reassuring hand on his knee as it bounced. "We're gonna be fine."
***
Rio sat across the two seats on the left side of the bus with Tara sat in front of him, trying to convince Eugene to cut his hair. He pulled the pen out of his pocket and twisted it around in his hand. He could try and write again, but it probably wouldn't work. The boy got up out of his seat and sat back next to Glenn and maggie.
"Missed us?"
"It's been ten minutes."
"What's this?" Maggie asked, tugging on the notebook in his pocket.
"Glenn inspired me to nick it off of Gabriel."
"You stole from a church?"
"No, I was joking. He let me have it." Rio defended himself. "I thought maybe I could write instead of sign but I can't do either right now. You can though."
"Would you like us to?"
The boy thought to himself for a moment then nodded. It would definitely help. He was struggling to make out what everyone was saying most of the time and realistically, his hearing was only going to get worse with all the gunshots.
Glenn held the pen cap in his mouth before writing down on the paper.
'Then we will'
Maggie grabbed the pen from him.
'You know, maybe Daryl and Carol are back by now'
Rio just shook his head.
'Maybe they are. Maybe they're right behind us. Everyone could be'
The boy turned around and looked over the seat, giving Eugene who was sitting behind them a short smile. He looked out the back window of the bus. "Not there." He shrugged.
Maggie gave him a playful shove as he sat back down.
Glenn handed him the notebook back and Rio read over the last line. 'They'll catch up eventually. We're just clearing the way.'
Rio turned around again, sitting on his feet. "How long is it gonna take?" He asked Eugene.
"To get to DC? Well I'll say—."
"To make the cure or whatever." Rio held out the book as the man began to answer. He wrote down one word.
'Depends'
"On what?"
'A number of things.' The man did the same thing Glenn did, speaking as he wrote. Eugene then flipped the book around and let Rio read it before scribbling something down again. 'Such as the density of the infected around target sites world wide'
The boy took his notebook back with a huff as Glenn continued to speak with the man.
"What do you mean target sites? Are you talking about missiles?"
"That's classified."
"I thought we were over that." Glenn sighed.
"What if we all live?" Eugene shot back.
"The secrets will matter then?"
"They might." He replied. "Anyway, the speed with which things normalize depend on a number of factors including worldwide weather patterns, which were modeled without the assumption that cars, planes, boats and trains wouldn't be pouring hydrocarbons into the atmosphere this long. Changed the game quite a bit when it comes to air-transmissible pathogens."
Rio looked over to Glenn who was just as lost as the boy and that wasn't because he couldn't hear. He stared blankly at Eugene who sat there awaiting a question.
Glenn took a long sigh. "Why the hair?"
"Because I like it." Eugene replied, face blank. Rio held a laugh. "And no one is taking scissor or clipper to it anytime soon. Do you hear me, Miss Espinosa?"
"Yes, loud and clear." The woman laughed.
"Yall can laugh all you want."
"We ain't making fun." Rio told him. "I haven't had a hair cut in like two years."
"We can tell." Glenn scoffed.
"I think you're due one." Maggie smiled.
"The smartest man I ever met happened to love my hair. My old boss, T. Brooks Ellis, the director of the Human Genome Project. He said my hair made me look like and I quote 'a fun guy' which I am. I just ain't Samson."
Rio was about to open his mouth, to ask a question about DC when a loud bang sounded out. The boy fell back down onto his seat and the bus swerved along the road, smoke rising from the engine.
There was a loud scream as the bus hit something, toppling completely and skidding across the road on its side. Everyone was thrown forward suddenly before everything went black.
***
Smoke continued to flow from the front and back of the bus even after Rio woke back up. His arm was throbbing and so was his head. He lay down on the floor, head lying against the shattered window.
Maggie and Glenn were still beside him, the man getting up almost immediately and looking out of the window on the roof. He held a hand out to Maggie and helped her up, grabbing Rio under his arms second. He held onto the boy as everyone shouted back and forth with each other.
The boy just leant against Glenn for a moment, looking at all the walkers as they pressed themselves against the windows.
"Should've.." Rio coughed, then the cough turned to a laugh, then a wince. "Should've worn a seatbelt."
"Are you okay?" Glenn asked, placing one hand on the boy's shoulder and one on his face.
"Well, if my arm weren't broken before, it sure is now." He smiled. Rio then noticed the blood dripping from Glenn's head. He felt his own with his hand and discovered that they were matching. No wonder his head was hurting.
"The engine's on fire, we gotta get out of here." Rosita exclaimed, making her way towards the front of the bus.
"I know." Glenn mumbled. He let go of Rio turning and holding out a hand asking him to wait there. The man made his way over to Abraham.
"You and I go first, knock 'em back, clear the way for Maggie and Rosita to get out. Then we all start hitting them, okay?"
"Yeah, all right we'll do it live."
"Tara?" Abraham called out. "You cover Eugene, come out when it's clear."
"Keep Rio with you too." Maggie gave her a nod.
"Okay."
Abraham held onto the broken windows near the back of the bus. He turned around and hung from it, kicking the door down with his feet. Glenn was at the front and jumped out first hitting a walker as soon as he could. Abraham was out next, followed by Maggie and Rosita.
Tara stumbled towards the exit and Rio tried to stop her. "No you can't go."
Just as he said it, a walker reached into the bus through the window on the roof. He barely missed Rio, his honey arms reaching out in front of him. The boy grabbed his knife and stabbed it into the creature's head quickly.
Eugene cowered in the corner.
"Come on." Tara complained. "I know it suck's and its scary but it's time to be brave."
"It isn't voluntary."
"It is, when you're screwed either way. So you cut through the choice that might help somebody."
Tara handed Eugene his own knife.
"I would ask you to kill that one now but the kid's already done it." Tara let out a small laugh.
"My bad." Rio returned, walking towards the exit. Eugene followed him, stopping just before he got outside.
"I'm right behind you." Tara reassured him.
Rio looked back before he jumped out of the bus. A walker found him immediately. He kicked it in its knees, using the strategy he'd found useful lately. He waited until the creature fell or buckled and then used his right hand to stab it through the head. It was over complicating things but it made sure didn't have to use his left hand.
He took down another doing the same and by the time he'd done it, almost all of the walkers were gone.
Rio turned around to find Eugene shaking, both hands clasped around the knife.
"Come on, man."
Eugene gave a short nod before turning away, hands still shaking. A walker advanced on him and he froze, Tara taking it out for him. Another came up behind her and Rio was about to step in when Eugene bounded forward.
The man stabbed the walker, stopping when he had to pull the knife back out of its head. Tara helped him and then he stumbled around for a second, taking in everything.
Abraham took down the last walker just as the three finished. Rosita dropped onto the floor as her boyfriend let out a long breath.
"Check Eugene. See if he's hurt." The man instructed.
"I'm fine, just cuts and dings is all."
"Check him."
"Is that your blood?" Eugene asked Abraham.
"Yeah. Damn thing opened again." He sighed, looking down at his hand. "I swear, the cuts are finer than frog's hair. They're just big bleeders."
"First aid kit's in the bus." Maggie told them. "I'll see what we have."
Just as the words left her lips there was a quiet rumbling and the bus caught on fire. The flames rose through the shattered windows and the kicked open door. Rio could feel the heat from where he stood.
"We're not stopping. We're rolling on." Abraham concluded, picking up the bag from on the road and slinging it over his shoulder. It was the only one they had left. "Find another vehicle down the road." Rio couldn't tell whether Abraham was optimistic or an idiot. "The mission hasn't changed."
"Devil's advocate, nothing more. We smashed to a stop hard. We spent a lot of time rolling things out of the road." Eugene replied. "The church is just 15 miles back."
"No. We don't stop. We don't go back." The other man reiterated. He started yelling, eyes furious. "We're at war and retreat means we lose. The road fights back, the plan gets jacked, you all know that. Now, we will get through this because we have to. Every direction is a question. We don't go back!"
"Hey, hey, hey. You okay?" Glenn asked the man as he tried to walk away.
"I am fit as a damn fiddle."
"We are going with you. You are calling this thing. I just need to know you're good."
"This is how things stop. I can't afford that right now, the world can't afford it. Listen, I took a pretty hard shot to the sack with that crash and I am stressed and depressed to see that ride die but if you say we're rolling on, I'm good."
"We're rolling on."
"I'm gonna rub some dirt on it and walk it off." Abraham nodded to himself.
"Yeah?"
"We'll find what we need like we always have on the way." Rosita added.
"Okay." Maggie agreed then she let out a laugh. "I'm not rubbing dirt on anything."
"Maybe we can find some bikes." Tara suggested. "Bikes don't burn."
"Right. All right." Abraham muttered to himself. He then gave a final nod and headed on up the road.
Rio still wasn't sure how he felt about him. He didn't exactly like Abraham, the man sort of scared him, but at least he didn't seem like the type to abandon him in the middle of the night. He was loyal. But then again, Rio wasn't Eugene. He might abandon him in the middle of the night
"Do you wanna play I spy?" Tara asked him about ten minutes into their walk.
The boy pulled a face at her, not thinking she was serious. After about ten rounds and three 'finals' he realized she was, although he wasn't sure whether she thought he'd want to play or whether she wanted to. He didn't mind either, it was fun.
"Hey, we should play hangman later." She added, noticing the notepad in the boy's pocket. Glenn also noticed it, picking it up and writing down on it. He found out it was hard to write whilst walking so gave up after the first question.
Rio scoffed as he read the words, Tara did too. 'Have you finally made a friend that isn't Carl?'
"I have friends who aren't Carl." The boy defended himself. He bit back a small smile. He hadn't even told Glenn that they were dating yet. Maybe he should.
"Yeah, like who?" The man challenged, handing him back the paper. "I don't count."
"Uh, Daryl."
"Daryl also doesn't count."
"Why? Because he's my dad?"
"Well, yeah."
"Then Beth." The boy answered before he could even think about it. Maggie shot a look over to him at the mention of her sister's name. Her gaze softened almost immediately. "Beth is my friend."
The woman nodded. "She counts."
"See. I have two friends actually. Three now, because of Tara."
The girl gave a small bow which was followed by small laughs. Despite their bus just blowing up, almost with them inside they were laughing and it didn't even feel wrong.
Rio felt like he was starting to understand Carl about the good outweighing the bad.
***
guys in absolutely dying rn i went for a run this morning and then did two hours of weight training with rugby whatever and then had to walk home my legs are in pieces